


In The Woods Somewhere

by Mrs_Baker



Category: Original Work
Genre: Domestic Violence, Fae & Fairies, Forest Spirits, Other, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23880142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Baker/pseuds/Mrs_Baker
Summary: A woman flees for her life into the woods, and finds something else entirely.
Kudos: 5





	In The Woods Somewhere

**Author's Note:**

> "I hate domestic abusers, in fact they all make me sick, this dude poured wine on my friend, I punched him straight in his shit"-Princess Nokia

It was dark in those woods and surely treacherous but Laura fled there anyway, fled from death behind her. Perhaps she was running straight into his arms now but she would not die at the hands of the man behind her. The man who said he loved her in their shattered house. If she died this night it would not be by his hands.

So she ran with every sharp stick and stone digging into her bare feet and she ran and ran until she saw some great light in the distance. Who could that be? What could that be? Chest heaving, Laura slowed and brushed her sweaty hair out of her face as she came closer to that light glowing in the forest and heard the sounds of music drifting over to her. She ventured towards it because what did she have to lose now?

Laura went closer and closer and she lifted a hand to shield her eyes as she came into a clearing where there were a dozen or so people reclined on great puddles of plum velvet, women and a few men with their attention turned to a man sitting on a mossy tree stump, the soft grassy ground cresting into a small hill in which he sat. She swayed as she heard his sweet voice, tender as new flower petals and warm as honey, long wavy hair falling down around his face. He lifted his gaze but he never stopped singing and nodded at her ever so slightly and his audience turned and looked at her, dots of pearlescent shine in their eyes.

She started as someone touched her forearm and she tensed her shoulders, waiting for a blow. It never came. 

“I-I’m sorry,” she stammered, moving back as the woman reached out for her, her expression entirely soft.

“It’s okay, darling. Come here, we’ll help you get cleaned up,” she told Laura and she let herself be led to one of the circles of velvet, round sitting cushions scattered across it with wooden platters of fruit, grapes, strawberries, and peaches. 

“My name is Anthea. You’re safe here,” the woman told her. Anthea.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized she could not discern where exactly the light was coming from. It seemed to come from nowhere diffusing around them and only them. The other women around her quickly drew near, dabbing at her bruised and scratched face, offering her fruit and water. Someone draped a shawl over her shoulders and she pulled it closer around herself, thankful to feel covered up. The urge to cry slammed into her all at once and she turned her face into Anthea’s shoulder and she felt arms wrap around her loosely.

She used to think she was too tired to cry but it came forth and with it, a release of everything she had bottled up to defend herself, to preserve her psyche. It was warm here and it smelled of wildflowers and cool night air, with the man singing to them so softly it sounded like a lullaby.

After a while the melody changed and so did his words, slender fingers plucking at the guitar in his arms which he held like a lover.

“Who are you?” Laura asked weakly as Anthea stroked her hair and wiped her tears away with a silken cloth.

“We are nobody and everyone, the trees and the plants and we are the wasteland. You don’t have to be afraid here,” Anthea whispered and Laura felt herself nodding off. She looked over at the other women and the men that were there too, watching her with gentle expressions and she knew she was not afraid of them.

“You could stay with us,” Anthea told her and she almost protested. She almost said  _ No, I can’t _ . But why not? What did she have to lose? She, who had no one and nowhere to go. And she was scared of being betrayed once again. Laura squeezed her eyes shut and took a shuddering breath.

“I won’t go back.”


End file.
